Leviticus 16 details the annual Day of Atonement rituals, initiated after the death of Aaron's sons. Aaron, as High Priest, performs specific ceremonies to make atonement for himself, his household, and the entire congregation of Israel. This involves sacrifices, blood sprinkling in the Most Holy Place, and the symbolic sending away of a scapegoat bearing the people's sins into the wilderness. This day is established as a perpetual statute for cleansing from sin.
and the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother, not to come at all times into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.
He shall put on the holy linen coat. He shall have the linen breeches on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be clothed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on.
But the goat, on which the lot fell for the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement for him, to send him away for the scapegoat into the wilderness.
“Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.
He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil:
and he shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, so that he will not die.
He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat.
He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness.
No one shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.
“He shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar.
He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
“Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting, and shall take off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there.
Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.
The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire.
“It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, the native-born, or the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you:
The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father’s place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments.
Then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
“This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” It was done as the LORD commanded Moses.
Study Notes for Leviticus 16
Verse 1
Links the establishment of this ritual directly to the unauthorized approach and subsequent death of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10), stressing the mortal danger of approaching God improperly.
Verse 2
The most sacred area, the Holy of Holies, could only be entered once a year by the High Priest, demonstrating God’s absolute holiness and the necessity of strict mediation.
Verse 4
The High Priest wears simple white linen garments instead of his usual ornate robes. These emphasize humility, purity, and equality before God during this solemn rite.
Verse 8
The two goats function together as a single sin offering, divided by lot. One is sacrificed to the Lord, and the other is sent away, symbolizing two aspects of atonement: propitiation and removal.
Verse 10
The term 'scapegoat' is a translation of the Hebrew *Azazel*, which likely refers either to the place of removal or the complete removal of sin, carried away to an uninhabited land.
Verse 13
The heavy cloud of incense shielded the High Priest from the direct, unbearable presence of God (the Shekinah glory appearing on the mercy seat), preventing immediate death.
Verse 16
This verse highlights a unique aspect of Yom Kippur: the atonement not only covers the people but also ritually cleanses the holy objects and the sanctuary itself from the defilement caused by Israel's sins.
Verse 21
The laying on of hands symbolizes the transfer of all the nation’s sins and transgressions onto the living goat, which then physically carries the guilt away from the community.
Verse 22
The sending away of the goat into an uninhabited land illustrates the totality of God’s forgiveness and removal of guilt, ensuring the sins are completely severed from the camp.
Verse 24
After completing the most sacred work, Aaron changes back into his regular, ornate priestly garments to resume the standard burnt offerings.
Verse 27
The sin offerings whose blood was used inside the Holy Place were considered extremely holy yet highly contaminated by sin, and therefore had to be burned completely outside the camp.
Verse 29
'Afflict your souls' is the fundamental requirement for the people on this day, understood in Jewish tradition as mandatory fasting, abstinence, and deep repentance.
Verse 30
Yom Kippur is the only day mandated in the Law where a comprehensive, corporate cleansing and atonement is made for the entire nation's sins accumulated over the whole year.
Verse 34
This emphasizes the yearly necessity of the ritual, pointing toward the New Testament understanding that Christ's once-for-all sacrifice fulfilled and transcended this repeated annual requirement (Hebrews 9:25-28).
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